Cardiovascular diseases claim more lives than all forms of cancer combined. Heart disease (which includes Heart Disease, Stroke and other Cardiovascular Diseases) is the No. 1 cause of death in the United States, killing between 600,000 and 800,000 every year. Heart disease affects men and women almost equally and is the leading cause of death for people of most racial/ethnic groups in the United States, including African Americans, Hispanics and Whites. For Asian Americans or Pacific islanders and American Indians or Alaska Natives, heart disease is second only to cancer.
In the United States, someone has a heart attack, every 34 seconds. Every 60 seconds, someone in the United States dies from a heart disease-related event. About 720,000 people in the U.S. suffer heart attacks each year. Of these, 515,000 are a first heart attack and 205,000 happen in people who have already had a heart attack.
In 2011, about 326,200 people experienced out-of-hospital cardiac arrests in the United States. Of those treated by emergency medical services, 10.6 percent survived. Of the 19,300 bystander-witnessed out-of-hospital cardiac arrests in die same year, 31.4 percent survived.
Moreover, every year about 735,000 Americans have a heart attack. Of these, 525,000 are a first heart attack and 210,000 happen in people who have already had a heart attack. Morbidity and mortality from myocardial infarction are significantly reduced if patients and bystanders recognize symptoms early, activate the emergency medical service (EMS) system, and thereby shorten the time to definitive and continuous treatment. Trained prehospital personnel can provide life-saving interventions if the patient develops cardiac arrest. The key to improved survival is the availability and use (if necessary) of early defibrillation. Approximately 1 in every 300 patients with chest, pain transported to the ED by private vehicle goes into cardiac arrest en route.
For anyone having an MI (myocardial infarction), getting rapid medical attention is absolutely critical for two reasons: Most of the cardiac arrests seen with acute MIs occur within the first few hours. If the cardiac arrest happens after you have come under adequate medical care, there is an excellent chance it can be successfully treated; otherwise the odds of surviving a cardiac arrest are very low.
Both the short-terra and the long-term consequences of an MI are largely determined by how much of your heart muscle dies. With rapid and aggressive medical treatment, the blocked artery can usually be opened quickly, thus preserving most of the heart muscle that is at risk of dying. If treatment is given within three or four hours, much of the permanent muscle damage can be avoided. But if treatment is delayed beyond five or six hours, the amount of heart muscle that can be saved drops off significantly. After about 12 hours, the damage is usually irreversible.
Getting rapid and appropriate medical care requires that several things occur. First, it requires that one knows the signs of a heart attack, and seeks medical help the moment one thinks one might be having a heart attack. Second, it requires that the medical personnel who are caring for you do the right things, and do them quickly. Third, medical care must be adequate and continuous until the danger from the heart attack subsides.
The use of an automated external defibrillator (AED) on a person who is having sudden cardiac arrest (SCA) may save the person's life. The most common cause of SCA is art arrhythmia called ventricular fibrillation wherein the ventricles don't beat normally. Rather, the ventricles quiver very rapidly and irregularly. Another arrhythmia that may lead to SCA is ventricular tachycardia wherein a fast, regular beating of the ventricles may last for a few seconds or much longer. In people who have either of these arrhythmias, an electric shock from an AED can restore the heart's normal rhythm (if done within minutes of the onset of SCA). The patient should be continuously monitored before during and after these events in case additional shock is needed.
In some circumstances, if an individual is having a SCA, the individual may suddenly collapse and lose consciousness. Alternatively and/or additionally, the person may be unconscious and unable to respond when called or shaken. The person may not be breathing, or they may have an abnormal breathing pattern. Generally, a pulse may not be present. Moreover, the person's skin may acquire a dark or blue tint from lack of oxygen. Also, the person, may not move, or his or her movements may look like a seizure (spasms).
Rapidly applying electrodes and leads to a potential SCA individual and using an AED will allow emergency medical personnel to check the person's heart rhythm and determine whether an electric shock is needed to try to restore a normal rhythm. The electronic shock may in some cases be applied by emergency medical technicians (EMTs) prior to heading to, or alternatively, on the way to an emergency medical care facility (e.g., a hospital). Additionally and/or alternatively, a shock may be applied once the patient has arrived at the emergency care facility. However, one problem that may occur is if the emergency medical care facility has different EKG machines and/or different defibrillators from the EMTs that transfer the patient to the hospital. This will often require the removal of electrodes and/or leads and from the patient and having new ones employed. The removal and re-applying of electrodes adds time to a patient's care in which time is of the essence. A failure to adapt the patient quickly to different machines may prove to be fatal. The present invention has been developed with these shortcomings in mind.